Jordan Baja 2024: Eduard Pons, second in the Baja Jordan, will play for the world title in the last race of the season.
- The driver from Lleida, very well navigated by Jaume Betriu, will arrive at the last round of the FIA Lowlanders World Cup as leader of the Challenger category, tied on 187 points with his main rival, and as third overall.
- A puncture prevented the Catalans from fighting for the victory in their category, although the second place will allow the Pons Rallysport team to depend on itself in the Baja Dubai.
- “Our options for the title are still very much alive and we have almost assured the runner-up position, at least. We have to be positive and prepare as much as possible for the last race of the year”.
Eduard Pons and his co-driver Jaume Betriu took a bittersweet taste from their participation last weekend in the Baja Jordan. The Catalans showed pace and speed to win the Challenger category, but an unexpected puncture caused them to lose valuable minutes that prevented them from being in the fight for the victory. In the end, second place allowed Pons to save the lead of the FIA World Cup Lowlanders' Championship, tied on points with the second-placed driver with only one race to go.
Everything started very well on Thursday, when the participating teams disputed a short prologue in which Pons was the second fastest with his Taurus T3 Max. The car, with the new engine installed by the Nasser Racing team technicians in the previous days, was competitive from the first kilometer of the race in the dreaded desert of Wadi Rum.
With the itinerary changed at the last minute due to the war conflict raging in the Middle East, the organizers of the Baja Jordan presented three special stages with very few dunes, with more stony and narrow areas through multiple canyons. In these conditions, an unexpected puncture was the key for the Pons / Betriu duo to lose more than ten minutes in the first special stage on Friday to their main rival in the fight for the world title, Khalid Aljafla.
“We started well, with excellent feelings in the prologue. But in the first stage we had a puncture that weighed us down for the whole race. We thought we were doing well with the tire pressures, but we still had a puncture. It was a pity, I felt very comfortable with the car, I knew we were going to be competitive and we could have fought for the win until the end if this setback had not happened. That's how races are”, commented Eduard Pons at the end of the day.
After the setback, Eduard Pons, very well navigated by Jaume Betriu, completed a fabulous comeback to finish in a more than creditable second position in the Challenger category, less than nine minutes behind the winner, as well as finishing fifth overall. “It was vital to finish as high as possible. In the end, second place allows us to leave here as co-leaders of the overall standings. Our chances of winning the title are still very much alive and we've almost secured the runner-up spot at least. We have to be positive and prepare as much as possible for the last race of the year,” added the Spaniard.
After seven races spread across some of the toughest deserts in the world, the Challenger class of the FIA World Cup Lowland 2024 will be decided in the last event, the Dubai International Baja. In it, both Pons and Aljafla will arrive tied at 187 points at the top of the overall, although the Catalan is first due to his two victories for the only one that the Emirati driver has harvested, precisely in Jordan. In addition, the Lleida rider is third in the overall classification of the world championship, a position he will also try to defend in the United Arab Emirates.
“It will be a great final at our rival's home. We are confident in our potential, we know we can be competitive on all terrains and we will prepare the best way possible for this last round. We will do some previous tests on sand and dunes, and we will go out with the maximum guarantees to fight until the end for a world title that we would be very excited to bring home”, concluded Eduard Pons, who knows that whoever is ahead in their particular duel will be crowned champion in Dubai, a race that will be held from November 28 to December 1.
Automatic translation of the Spanish version
Source: Pons Rally Sport
